How you can avail of the HomeBuilder Grant without leaving your home

Last June, the Victorian Government announced a new and efficient way to help Victorians that have been planning to build or renovate a home but had to postpone it because of the pandemic. Time and time again, we have said that the construction and building industry is going to play such an important role in the economy’s economy. The more projects planned, the more jobs created, thus, more Victorians will get back on their feet again. Allow us to refresh your memory about the HomeBuilder package. This package consists of a $25,000 grant by the Victorian Government to renovate an existing home or buy off a home provided that the contract existed and signed between the 4th of June 2020 and 31st of December 2020. Not only that, the construction should commence within three months of the contract date. Of course, there are other requirements for one to be eligible for the grant. For the criteria, check out this blog. Now, with the state being declared to be in the state of disaster and the Stage 4 restrictions in metropolitan Melbourne (effective 2nd of August) and Stage 3 restrictions in Regional Victoria (5th of August), you may have probably wondering if this grant still stands. The answer is: yes, it does and the good thing is you may register online. Applicants will have to register on their online portal and they have until the 31st of December 2020. Read the guidelines before you do. After completing the application process, the outcome will be sent within 15 business days. The grant will be paid into the nominated account, generally within 5 days of notifying you that the application was successful. The HomeBuilder Grant online applications complement the existing First Home Owner Grant, which has a different set of criteria to become eligible. In addition to the online application, “the Commissioner of State Revenue Commissioner of State Revenue will exercise his discretion under the National Partnership Agreement to provide a blanket extension of 3 months to the construction commencement requirement for the HomeBuilder Grant.” This would mean that applicants of the grant will now have 6 months from the signing the contract to the commence construction as opposed to the 3 months that was announced in June. However, the extension should be no more further than that.